The Child of the Wind
by Holiday Thorne
Summary: A friendless orphan, Kaze wanders the Five Great Nations, training with exceptional shinobi whenever she can. When she is found by an organization looking to create world-wide peace, however, everything will change. (Itachi/OC, partial AU, Akatsuki-centric, T to be safe)
1. Part 1: Wings of the Future

**Full Description:** ** _Spread your wings and take flight . . . my dear.  
_** **After the massacre of her entire family, Kaze is left all alone in the world, with no place to call home and no family to call her own. She wanders the Five Great Shinobi Countries for a time, until she is discovered by an organization seeking world peace by any means - by force, if it comes to that - and she agrees to join.**  
 **Following the years after her recruitment, the entire world will be shaped by the decisions of one heartbroken, lonely orphan.**

 **Disclaimer: I, Holiday Thorne, do not own _Naruto_ , but I do own the rights to Kaze, as well as some other OCs.**

* * *

 _ **The Child of the Wind**_

 **Part I  
 _Wings of the Future  
_ (Naruto)**


	2. Prologue: Rebirth

**Here's the Prologue you have all been waiting for! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: While I do own a lovely puppy (terrier mix) named Suna, an anniversary edition copy of _Labyrinth_ (does that mean I don't have to do disclaimers on _Labyrinth_ fanfictions, since I technically own it?), and a beaten-up copy of _Twilight_ , I don't think I own _Naruto_ and _Naruto Shippuden_ , not unless it got mixed in with my shit while I was packing up for the move. Oh, well.**

* * *

 _ **The Child of the Wind**_

 **Prologue  
 _Rebirth_  
**

 _"We have_ _walked through the darkness of this world, that's why we are able to see even a sliver of light."  
_ _-Gaara of the Sand, **Naruto**_

 **-3rd POV, w/Kaze-**

BLADES connect.

 _Clink! Clang!_

Sparks flash.

 _Shinck! Clang!_

Two separate.

 _Shh. Shh._

They circle.

 _Crunch. Crunch._

They leap.

 _Whoosh! Clang!_

Blades connect.

 _Clang! Clang!_

Sparks fly.

 _Shinck! Clang!_

They separate.

 _Shh. Crunch._

One disappears.

 _Whoosh! Rustle._

One circles.

 _Crunch. Crunch._

Wind blows.

 _Whoooosh. Rustle._

One pauses . . .

 _Cru-_

And listens.

 _Whoooosh. Rustle._

Nothing happens.

 _Whoooosh. Rustle._

One relaxes.

 _Whoooosh. Rustle._

One attacks.

 _Whooooosh. Shinck!_

"If this was a real battle, _Shishō_ , you would be dead," the teenage girl, holding the blade of a gleaming, polished katana against the older man's throat, remarks, both her voice and expression cold and emotionless despite the familiarity with which she speaks to the man.

Raiga Kurosuki, the teen's opponent, laughs boisterously, despite the rather dangerous position he's in. "Well done, _Gakusei_ ," he said cheerily, turning in her grip - tight despite the fact that this was just a training exercise - to face her. He smiles warmly at her, and, in one smooth movement, she releases him from her choke-hold, steps away from him, and sheaths her katana. "Very nicely done."

She inclines her head just barely, her bound hair swishing around her face slightly with the movement. But Raiga knows what she means, what she is telling him through her cold actions; family traditions, along with many years of emotional suppression, caused her to act this way on regular occasion.

The two know each other well, despite not knowing each other's names; when she approached him a while ago, with a request to train her in the art of kenjutsu and an offer to make it worth his while, one of the requirements she had made before they entered the partnership was that they would not disclose their names to the other. Instead, they called each other _Gakusei_ , which means 'student,' and _Shishō_ , which means 'master.'

It was a rather clever ploy, at least in his opinion, to ensure the survival of at least one of them, should they be captured by opposing forces; she may not reveal a lot, but what she did lead him to believe she is a certifiable genius, complete with an insanely high IQ.

 _Maybe she ran away from home to escape the expectations that come with being a genius in this world,_ he muses as his eyes meet the eyes of his student.

Her lips part, as if in preparation to state something (most likely about how he's zoning out in the middle of a fight, though it's technically already ended, and if he did that on the battlefield, he'd die in an instant), but he jumps in.

"You know," he remarks, and her lips close, tightening into a firm line, "you _can_ actually express your emotions around me, _Gakusei_ ; I don't mind."

Her only response to this statement is an ever-so-slight eyebrow raise.

"Come on," he coaxes. "Smile. Just one, then I'll leave you alone. Please!"

She sighs, a deep, heavy sigh - a sigh unusual for a girl her age to heave. "Fine," she says, her tone cold and biting. Her eyes close, scrunching up in concentration as if she _cannot_ remember how to smile.

His expression, mischievous and cheery, melts into one of sadness and pity; he is just about to stop her, ready to claim that she doesn't need to do anything she's uncomfortable with (and probably accompany it with one of his humorless jokes, just to lighten the mood a bit after her public struggle ended badly), when her eyes slide open smoothly and the corners of her lips twitch upwards into a slight smile.

While not exactly the most attractive of all of the shinobi out there, Raiga knows beauty when he sees it. And his student, despite being no older than 12 at the most, is beautiful. While not possessing large eyes, framed with thick lashes, that would scream innocence to anyone who peered into their depths, or perfect, pristine hair in the most unnatural of colors, she has a beauty all her own.

She's tan, a healthy glow to her skin from much time out in the sun, but there's a hint of an olive-tone to her skin that she refuses to explain to him. She is tall, taller than most are at her age, with a height of 4'11", and she's muscular and sinewy to match; she isn't exactly developed, as far as feminine qualities go, but she does have slight curves that help set her apart from males to the more . . . _unobservant_ eye.

Her face is heart-shaped, with high cheekbones and a narrow jawline, and her features, while matching the shape of her face, have an edge of danger, a hint of a threat lurking. Her hair, one of the other few indicators that she is, in fact, a female, is kept long, reaching to her mid-back even while in the constraints of her high ponytail, and the color of it is a barely, ever-so-slightly washed-out strawberry blonde; in the months that Raiga has known her, she has always refused to cut her hair, and whenever he was to ask her why, she refused to tell him. Her eyes possess a vivid violet hue to their irises that he has only ever seen in a rare clan from the desert (but, like most of her more . . . _unusual_ features, she refuses to explain), and her eyelashes, while not incredibly defined, are long and delicate, framing her eyes well.

Truly, she is beautiful, and when she smiles (even a fake smile like the one she wears often to appease him), her entire face lights up, making her ten-times more beautiful.

He returns her smile, beaming cheerily at her, but when he both senses the approaching chakra signatures and remembers the deal, the expression of happiness drops from his face. " _Gakusei_ ," he begins, but his student cuts him off.

"I know, _Shishō_ ," she says, turning to look out at the forest surrounding them. "I can sense them, too. And I remember."

He reaches into the pack strapped on to his back, pulls out a cream and gold scroll, and tosses it to her.

Her hand flies up almost instantly, and the scroll slams into her palm, her fingers quickly closing around it. She turns from the forest to look down at the scroll resting in her hand before shooting a questioning glance at Raiga. "What is this, _Shishō_?" she asks, taking it into both hands and turning it over to examine the small clasp holding the scroll closed.

"It's a summoning scroll," Raiga replies, stepping forward to place his hand on his student's shoulder. "When I die, I want to pass Kiba on to you, _Gakusei_."

Her eyes widen, and she looks up at him in shock. "R-Really, _Shishō_?" she stammers.

"Yes, really," he says, smiling. "When I die, the scroll will start to glow, meaning that you can summon Kiba. The swords will be yours to use, then."

Despite her control over her emotions, her eyes start to dew with unshed tears of heartfelt emotion. "Thank you, _Shishō_ ," she murmurs, looking down at the scroll again. "I suppose that's why you trained me how to use Kiba throughout our time training together, though. Right?"

He grins. "Correct, as always," he says, and she tucks the scroll into the hidden pocket of her ash gray pants.

"Thank you for everything, _Shishō_ ," she says at last, bowing deeply to him.

Raiga merely smiles wider. " _Gakusei_ , you don't need to bow to me," he says gently, and she straightens slowly. "It was my pleasure, my dear; you have been an excellent student, and I cannot have chosen someone better to carry on the legacy of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist."

Her lips twitch slightly, but her eyes remain forlorn and sorrowful. "But I'm not from the Mist Village, _Shishō_ ," she says, but he chuckles without humor.

"It doesn't matter," he says firmly, placing his index finger beneath her chin and tilting her head upwards so their eyes meet. "You're the only person I want to wield Kiba after my death." He, then, turns to look at the forest, but he still watches his student out of the corner of his eye. "The signatures are getting closer; it's about time for me to leave."

She remains still for a long moment, and he glances away, only to have her attack him in a hug.

"Oof!" He grunts as her arms wrap tightly around his midsection, and, chuckling, he hugs her back. "Ah, _Gakusei_ ," he says, holding her closely, "I'll miss you; you were the best pupil I've ever had."

"Kaze, _Shishō_. My name is Kaze."

His eyes widen, but he soon recovers from his shock and smiles. "Well, then, since you gave me your real name, allow me to return the favor; my name is Raiga Kurosuki," he says, releasing her.

She pulls away as well, and he offers her a sad smile.

"Good-bye . . . Kaze," he says before disappearing, with only a gentle gust of wind to mark his departure.

"Good-bye, Raiga," she murmurs, closing her eyes to force back the tears of sorrow at parting, once again, with someone that she has grown to care for. "Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome . . . _my . . . child . . ._ " His voice carries on the wind to her ears, a near silent murmur never meant to be heard, and it is his words that break the dam holding her emotions at bay.

Her eyes fill with tears, and before she has even realized the barrier has been broken, shattered into millions of tiny pieces by her precious master's final words to her, silent droplets fall down her cheeks like a mournful summer rain. With trembling fingers, she reaches up and brushes the trembling tears from her eyelashes, letting out a very nearly silent cry tumble from her lips; she presses her palms against her eyes and falls to her knees, silently gasping for breath.

 _Fool,_ she thinks to herself as she cries, kneeling there on the forest floor - all alone. _I knew better . . . than to get involved. How many times have I been hurt? How many more times will it take until I finally learn? I cannot . . . grow close to anyone . . . ever again._

 **You are still just a child, Kaze.**

 _That doesn't excuse my behavior, my foolishness,_ she protests, though she knows he's right.

 **Yes, it does.**

Kaze, you are only a child, and children get lonely.

 **You were lonely when you met Raiga, and as such, you bonded with him quickly, despite your attempts to prevent attachments.**

It is human nature to want, to desire companionship; you may be powerful, more powerful than most, but you are still a human child, Kaze, and you cannot go against such deeply ingrained behaviors.

 **It is not your fault.**

She laughs humorlessly to herself, her tears, at last, slowing. _Ganging up on me, are we?_

 **To remind you of your nature . . .**

. . . and that it's not your fault . . .

 **Yes.**

Her tears stop, and she wipes the remaining evidence of a breakdown in her defenses with the loose, poofy sleeve of her light blue outer-shirt. _Thank you,_ she murmurs, and she sees a mental image of the two smiling warmly at her.

 **Now, Kaze, it is probably in your best interest to pay attention to the approaching chakra signatures; they are very powerful.**

Not as powerful as us, the other interrupts.

 **True,** **Fūjin, but the point still stands that if the two want a fight, it may get ugly.**

 _Understood,_ she thinks to the two sealed inside of her, standing slowly.

 **Summon one of _them_ , Kaze.**

She nods slightly to signal her understanding, and she brings her thumb to her mouth; with surprisingly sharp canines, she bites her thumb just hard enough to draw blood, performing the appropriate hand-signs.

 _I, Inu, Tori, Saru, Hitsuji_ _,_ she thinks before slamming both hands on to the ground. _Summoning Jutsu!_

A large cloud of smoke appears, and it is then that the two shinobi appear, leaping from the branches of the trees on to the grass-covered ground of the clearing.

One shinobi is a male, with bright crimson hair and eyes the color of hazelnuts; he wears a large cloak that obscures the rest of his clothing from view, with bright crimson clouds printed on to the fabric. His companion is a female, with pastel-blue hair and orange-gold eyes; she wears the same cloak as the male, but it is specifically tailored to fit her.

"Is this it?" the blue-haired kunoichi asks, looking around the clearing as the smoke starts to clear away . . . slowly.

"I believe so," the male replies, looking around as well. "My subordinate told me that the last that anyone had seen her, it was this particular clearing. Whether she is here still . . . well, that's up in the air."

"Indeed," the female murmured before parts of her body begin to dissolve into origami paper - her clothing, as well.

"Interesting jutsu . . ." the strawberry blonde kunoichi calls as the smoke continues to dissipate. "It's rather similar to one I've developed myself; I wonder if I'll need to use it."

The red-haired male's brows draw together, and he scowls in the direction that her voice is coming from. " _Brat_!" he shouts. "You think yourself a match for the both of us!?"

But despite his growing temper, and the growing killing intent radiating from him, the strawberry blonde-haired kunoichi merely laughs gently, the sound like the tinkling of a small, silver bell. "No, no. That's not what I'm saying at all; my jutsu is used mainly for escape . . . which is something . . . _I'm quite good at_." Her voice is a low purr as she says this, suddenly filling with killing intent to match his.

His eyes narrow, and it is in that moment that the smoke blows away enough to reveal her, reclining easily on the back of a monstrously large heron; the heron is a strange looking beast, appearing to be something that belonged on the illustrated pages of a tome about mythology, and not a summoning. It is mostly white, with blue feathered wings, and a long beak that is typical of herons. Its eyes glow crimson, but that isn't the strangest part about the creature; starting at the crown of the bird's head, its feathers appear to have an almost . . . metallic sheen to them, like scales, and the further down the creature you go, the more noticeable the "scales" become, morphing into what can only be _real_ scales. And as if that isn't strange enough, the heron appears to glow slightly, luminescent in a shining shade of blue.

The red-haired male's jaw drops when he sees the strawberry blonde-haired kunoichi's summoning. " _Aosaginohi_ ," he murmurs under his breath, staring at the heron. However, he manages to gain control of his shock and surprise, and instead, he schools his features into bored disinterest.

On the other hand, his companion, the pastel-blue-haired kunoichi, merely blinks in slight surprise when she sees the summoning, but she remains composed and calm.

"We are not here to fight you," she states coolly, watching the kunoichi carefully despite her pacifistic words; "we only want to talk."

The violet-eyed kunoichi smirks. "I thought that we were already doing that," she remarks, a bitingly sarcastic tone to her voice.

" _Brat_!" the red-haired male shouts at her again, going to lunge forwards in an attack, but, as the kunoichi prepares herself for a counter-strike, his companion stops him.

"Sasori."

The sound of his own name, stated so coldly, in such a tone that warns of physical harm should her words be ignored, is more than enough to halt him in his tracks. Meanwhile, the kunoichi blinks, interested.

"Sasori?" she repeats. "As in _Sasori of the Red Sand_? Puppeteering genius from Suna, who disappeared several years ago?"

His brows draw together. "Yes," he drawls slowly, warily. "What of me?"

She laughs gently. "Big fan of your work, Sasori," she exclaims, grinning mischievously. "Big fan!"

He blinks, stunned, and her grin widens.

"My name is Kaze," she says as way of introducing herself, returning the favor of him allowing her his name, and he dips his head slightly in recognition.

"We know who you are," the blue-haired kunoichi says, her tone emotionless but not cold somehow. "We want you to join the Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?" Kaze repeats, raising an eyebrow. "I've never heard of it; what is it?"

"A group that will bring true peace to everyone," the other kunoichi replies.

"Okaaay," Kaze says slowly, blinking. "Why do you want me?"

"We are recruiting powerful missing-nin to further our cause."

Kaze snorts. "Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Recruit a bunch of bloodthirsty criminals who want nothing more than to murder, plunder, and pillage into an organization whose goal is to create _true peace_ ," she says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Sasori cannot help but snort as well. "She has a point," he mutters under his breath, only to receive a glare from his female companion. He winces slightly at the look.

"Besides," Kaze continues before the blue-haired kunoichi can speak, "I'm not exactly your _typical_ missing-nin. So why do you want me?"

"You are powerful."

Kaze sighs; it appears that that's all she's going to get out of the strange kunoichi on that topic, but there are still other topics that she wants to discuss before she gives an answer. "Who else is in the Akatsuki?" she asks.

"I am, as well as our Leader, a missing-nin from the Waterfall named Kakuzu, and Sasori."

"That's it?" Kaze asks, raising both her eyebrows. "I would have thought you would have more members than that, especially if your goal is to bring _true peace_ to the world; _true peace_ isn't going to come easy."

"We are in the process of gathering more members to further our cause."

"And you want me to be one of them?"

"Yes."

"Will I be partnered up with anyone? Will there be teams?"

"Yes; is that an issue?"

Kaze smirks slightly. "Depends on the person; I'm a bit . . . _picky_ about teammates, but I know how to get along with most everyone." She stands atop her summoning, her hand on her hip. "What makes teams difficult with me is that I have a bit of a nasty temper; you'd best find someone who won't piss me off too much."

The blue-haired kunoichi inclines her head slightly, to indicate her understanding. "Will you join us?"

"Just one more question," Kaze says as her summoning disappears into a large cloud of smoke, as large as the one it appeared with. She lands easily, bending her knees to absorb the brunt of the impact in a non-harmful way.

The kunoichi nods, as if giving the strawberry blonde permission to speak.

"What is your name?"

Despite herself, the kunoichi smiles slightly, an ever-so-slight twitch of the corners of her lips. "I am Konan."

"Well, I guess I'm joining the Akatsuki," Kaze says, shrugging slightly.

Konan nods and begins to walk away, both Sasori and Kaze following after her.

* * *

 **There we go! That's the end of the Prologue! Now that you guys have officially met Kaze, what do you think of her? I'm trying not to make her a Mary Sue, so please let me know if she starts to act or seem like one.**

 **There are reasons why she has two beings sealed inside of her, and it has a lot to do with her backstory, which will be revealed in later chapters. In the meantime, just know that they _are_ there for a reason, and it is _not_ to make her look cool or anything. And as for her summoning, well, that is a creature from Japanese mythology; she has multiple summonings, and while they are powerful, I don't think that they're overly powerful. Just let me know if you disagree.**

 **I saw other writers doing this, so I'm going to try it out. I'll ask a question at the end of each chapter, you guys can answer it, and at the end of the next chapter, I'll give you my personal answer. Feel free to answer, but you don't have to if you don't want to. :)**

 **Question: Most OP character in _Naruto_ , in your opinion?**

 **Well, see you guys next time!**


	3. Chapter 1: History

**Chapter 1 is** ** _finally_** **here! Enjoy!**

 **WarFlower: You make a good point; she is pretty OP. And did you know that with Madara, Kishimoto-sensei literally said "I have no idea how they're going to defeat him"? Like, what? Lol, I still find that funny. And thank you very much on the compliments. :) And I most definitely agree about Kaze; I don't think she's Mary Sue, but that could be because she's my character and I'm very much biased. But I guess we'll see.  
FailingErin: Thank you! And I have to say that he is a good choice for most OP character. Kishimoto-sensei even said that if he and Madara were to duke it out, Itachi would win without a doubt - that's why he killed him off; with Itachi around, things wouldn't develop to be so bad, y'know? All he'd have to do is _"Mangekyou Sharingan!"_ the problems, and they'd go away. Lol.**

 **Disclaimer: Things I have the rights to include my OCs, a few stories that I'm working on (that may or may not someday be published), and myself. Unfortunately,** ** _Naruto_** **is not included in that list - hence why this story is written on a website whose very URL titles it 'Fanfiction'.**

* * *

 _ **The Child of the Wind**_

 **Chapter 1  
 _History_  
**

 _"Either people change, or they die before they do; it's one or the other."  
-Orochimaru, **Naruto**_

 **Last time on _The Child of the Wind_ :**

 _"Well, I guess I'm joining the Akatsuki," Kaze says, shrugging slightly._

 _Konan nods and begins to walk away, both Sasori and Kaze following after her._

 **-3rd POV, w/Kaze-**

 _"WELCOME to the Akatsuki," the orange-haired, very pierced man says, holding out a ring. The ring is made of some kind of silvery metal, with a smooth top surface that is the color of the sky, at the very edges of the horizon, which is ironic as the kanji inscribed on to the ring translates to either **"Void"** or **"Sky"**._

 _Kaze smirks slightly, accepting the ring and sliding it on to the proper finger - left pinkie. "I look forward to working with you," she says, dipping her head._

* * *

 **-Several months later...-**

"A new shinobi will be joining us soon," Pein says, from his position atop one of the fingers of the Gedo Statue. "He is being brought in by an associate of mine as we speak."

"Who will be his teammate?" Kaze asks, sitting on top of the finger assigned to her with her knee drawn into her chest. Her other leg dangles in the air, bent at the knee, and she rests one of her hands on that thigh, while her other arm is wrapped around her other knee. Her hair has grown longer, now reaching to her hips even while in its usual high ponytail, and she has filled out slightly, growing both a few inches upwards and around the chest.

Pein remains silent for a moment, considering the question. "I believe . . ." he says slowly, after a bit, "I will have him join a two-man partnership."

"Why?" Sasori asks gruffly, from inside Hiruko. He doesn't really care either way, as the new shinobi joining was likely to only get in his way, but it would be best to know either way, he believes.

"From what I have heard," Pein says, fixing each member of the Akatsuki with a look of utmost seriousness, "he is quite powerful, so if he betrays us, it would be . . . _consequential_."

"So basically you want the two-man partnership, whoever it is that you choose, to spy on the newbie and make sure that he doesn't betray us," Kaze deduces, swinging her dangling leg back and forth slightly. "Correct?"

Pein nods slightly, confirming her suspicions.

"So who is the partnership going to be?" Jūzō Biwa, a missing-nin from Kiri, asks, at last joining the conversation. "Who's going to have to keep an eye on the newbie?"

"It will be you and Kaze, Jūzō," Pein says, his tone suggesting that there can be no arguments or discussions about his decision.

"Understood, Leader-sama," both say, bowing their heads in submission.

"And, Kaze," Pein says, continuing.

"Yes?" She looks up, her violet eyes glittering in the dim lighting.

"You will appear to only be tagging along with the new recruit and Jūzō on missions, understood? You will help in the background and offer assistance if the need arises, but you will _not_ arouse his suspicions," Pein orders. "I am counting on you to keep Jūzō in line, from killing the new recruit, and to spy on the recruit without revealing yourself; your . . . _abilities_ ensure only you will be able to fulfill this mission."

She nods. "Understood, Leader-sama; I will not disappoint you."

"I should hope not," Pein says, his face impassive yet dangerous. "Dismissed."

* * *

 _His eyes widen as he regards the strawberry blonde kunoichi in front of him; she wears a slim, slightly form-fitting cloak, made of cloth dyed black with red clouds printed on to it, as well as a small ring on her pinkie, and he can easily recognize the significance of such apparel. She's from the Akatsuki, who have wanted him dead ever since he found out some of the organization's secrets; he isn't surprised that they sent someone after him, likely to assassinate him, but he is a little disappointed the shinobi they sent is just a little girl._

 _He narrows his eyes; then again, she wears the official robes and the ring, so she must be powerful enough to have been recruited. That, and she has the vividly violet irises that have only ever occurred in one **very** powerful clan - whose exploits are known throughout the Five Great Nations._

 _"Hajime Fukui, ex-shinobi of Iwagakure, you have released confidential information about the Akatsuki to opposing forces," the teenage girl says emotionlessly, unsheathing a katana that is strapped to her back. "As such, I have been ordered to kill you; prepare yourself."_

 _His body trembles with laughter. "You!?" he erupts, laughing hysterically. "You kill me!?"_

 _To her credit, though, the young kunoichi remains calm, emotionless; she only brandishes the katana at him slightly, her eyes like flinty chips of amethyst. "I will not lose, so please, prepare yourself."_

 _He grits his teeth and, drawing a kunai and brandishing it, lunges himself at her in an attack. "Not a chance!" he snarls, stabbing her right below her rib-cage, where her stomach is._

 _However, she remains impassive, despite the life-threatening wound, and after a moment, she dissolves into thousands upon thousands of glimmering butterflies, which all take off into the sky; the display is something akin to a scene in a fantasy movie, with a cloud of butterflies with luminescent, iridescent wings that glitter like starlight in the harsh rays of the sun all flying in circles around him - a disorienting, and frankly blinding, display indeed._

 _A sharp pain in his mid-back, angled up to reach his heart, is the only warning he has; in the confusion the butterflies created, she appeared out of nowhere, and she has stabbed him in such a way that his heart is punctured. Unless he gets medical attention **immediately** , he **will** die._

 _She draws her katana out of his weakened body, ignoring the disgusting slurping sounds as his inner organs release their tight hold on her gleaming blade, and she flicks it, in order to get rid of the crimson liquid the blade is drenched in. "You were saying?" she asks, looking down impassively at his body, oh-so close to death._

* * *

 _"The new recruit is here!"_ Zetsu calls, out into the cavern. **"He looks tasty; may I eat him?"**

"You are not eating another one of my partners, Zetsu," Kaze drawls from where she reclines against the upraised hand of the Gedo Statue, sharpening the blade of her katana with a small whetstone. The resulting _'shinck!'_ echoes throughout the cavern, creating an eerie background noise to the quiet discussions occurring between partnerships.

"Agreed," Jūzō remarks, from his seated position next to the strawberry blonde.

"Let them in," Pein orders, his low tones echoing, bouncing off the stone walls that glisten with moisture. "And you may not, Zetsu."

 _"Understood!"_ the white half of Zetsu sings cheerily, while its black half grumbles, **"Fine, I won't eat him."** It disappears, melting back into the stone, and when it appears again, the large stone blocking the entrance slides away, allowing entrance into the cave.

Conversation amongst the partners resumes to its normal again, and Kaze does her best to ignore the disgusting leering of the missing-nin of Konoha and one of the three Sannin, Orochimaru, as she continues to sharpen her katana. The man has had an unhealthy (for whom, she isn't entirely sure) obsession (he calls it 'interest,' but it's more than that) with her, ever since he heard of her abilities; she isn't exactly sure what he wants with her, but she is absolutely sure that it isn't good. The man isn't actually part of the Akatsuki **(1)** , but he still wears the cloak and parades around like he is - and he even attempts to order the others around; needless to say, she, along with many others in the organization, hates his guts.

Her hand trembles, ever-so-slightly, as she continues with the menial task of sharpening her katana to the point where it can cut through steel beams like a hot knife cuts through butter, and her brows knit together.

I swear, if he doesn't stop staring at you, I'm going to kill him! Fūjin snaps suddenly, and the corner of Kaze's lips twitch upwards into a small smirk.

 **Agreed,** Raijin says, snarling.

I will rip his vocal chords out and feed them to one of his summonings. I will make thousands upon thousands upon thousands of shallow cuts on his entire body, drawing blood but not enough to threaten his life. He will be bleeding on the floor in front of me, and I will rub sea salt into his wounds as he screams wordlessly - 'cause I ripped out his vocal chords. And -

 _Except for the fact that you aren't physically here,_ Kaze says, cutting into Fūjin's rant, _so it's a moot point anyway._

Dream-killer, he replies, and she gets a mental image of him pouting at her.

She mentally chuckles at that, now calm once more.

 _"They're coming!"_ Zetsu says, more of a warning for the duo who will be taking the newbie under their wing than anything else, and Kaze looks over to her partner, marked with red face-paint.

He grimaces at her, an ever-so-slight downward tilt of his mouth that she easily translates into the grimace of someone not big on facial expressions, and she nods in wordless agreement.

Ever since the two had first met when he joined the Akatsuki, a few days after her, the two have always understood each other - almost uncannily so; whether it's because they have both been betrayed by those they chose to trust or because they have very similar personalities, no one knows for sure, but whatever the reason, this unspoken understanding of each other is what led Pein to team the two up together in the first place. And he has not regretted it; the duo works almost _angelically_ together, and with an efficiency that makes many others jealous.

Even _Madara_ , who has a talent for nitpicking everything in the organization that Pein has done, is pleased with the partnership; if only the other teams could work together as well.

A few moments pass, and two boys, one a man and the other on his way to becoming one, walk through the entryway; the stone rolls back into place behind them, and the young man jumps slightly, whirling around to watch the stone roll into place.

 _Jumpy,_ Kaze observes mentally, watching the new member closely.

He looks to about her age, maybe a few months older, and he is quite handsome, with long hair, pulled back into a low ponytail, the color of a crow's feathers and ebony eyes that have an interesting amount of depth to them; his eyes are the type that girls could drown in, lined with spectacular eyelashes that she's _almost_ jealous of. He wears a uniform that she recognizes to be the Konoha ANBU uniform, minus the mask - easily recognizable from all of the times she's run into them; his forehead protector identifies him as a shinobi of Konoha, as she thought, but the odd thing is that there is no slash through it, marking him as a missing-nin who has severed all ties with the village. For someone who has been asked to join the Akatsuki, he seems awfully attached to his ex-village.

 _Suspicious,_ she thinks as Orochimaru stands to examine the newbie.

"Why, it's Itachi," the creep purrs, and her eyes widen slightly. "It's been a long time."

 _Itachi? Itachi Uchiha, the one who slaughtered his entire clan? That's him?_

I was expecting someone a little different, Fūjin comments idly.

 **Indeed,** Raijin says, and she receives a mental image of him nodding in agreement.

I mean, he slaughtered his entire clan, so you would think -

She cuts him off. _He wouldn't look so attached to his old village._

Though he's obviously annoyed with her, Fūjin nods in agreement. Yes.

Itachi stares at Orochimaru, his eyes widening slightly. "Orochimaru . . ." he mumbles.

"That's right!" Tobi exclaims suddenly, looking around wildly. "You're from the same region! Is this going to be a touching reunion!?"

"I should hope not," Kaze can't help but mutter under her breath, and Jūzō nods in wordless agreement.

"I heard the rumors," Orochimaru drawls, continuing. He smirks nastily at the young boy, and Kaze glares at the creepy Snake-Sannin. "I knew it . . . so you were a shinobi like us . . ."

"'Like us'?" Itachi inquires, still watching the man carefully.

"Those who consider bonds like the village, the clan, and comrades . . . to be a _burden_ ," Orochimaru finishes, and Kaze growls slightly at his words. He hears the growl and turns his head to smirk nastily at her.

"Kaze here -" he begins, but he is cut off, both by Pein's arrival and Jūzō holding a kunai knife to his throat.

"Keep talking about her like that," he growls quietly, "and you won't have a tongue anymore; I will cut it out and feed it to one of your snake summons. Understood?"

Itachi's eyes widen enormously when Orochimaru, an arrogant shinobi who believes wholeheartedly in his own abilities and himself being the very best of all of the shinobi across the Five Great Nations, nods in both submission and agreement; clearly, the shinobi holding the kunai to his throat is someone to be wary of.

"Enough," Pein calls, his voice echoing in the large stone cavern. "Jūzō, release Orochimaru and return to Kaze."

"Understood," Jūzō says, nodding, and he flash-steps out of Itachi's line of sight.

Pein turns and fixes his sights on Itachi. "Itachi Uchiha . . . come with me."

Kaze sheaths her katana, the blade glimmering dangerously in the unearthly light that illuminates the cavern.

* * *

 **-3rd POV, w/Itachi-**

"The goal of the Akatsuki . . ." Pein says once the three have entered the private room, offset from the cavern and fixed with soundproof seals. A blue-haired kunoichi stands behind him, her face barely illuminated by the flickering light of the torch set in the center of the room. ". . . is a world of true peace among shinobi. Instead of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, the Akatsuki shall rule the world."

"That's a big goal," Itachi remarks, his face emotionless though his heart pounds in his chest. _This is it._

"That's why we're assembling skilled shinobi without asking where they're from or what they've done," Pein replies, shooting a barely noticeable glance towards the man, with the orange swirling mask fixed on to his face, who calls himself _Madara Uchiha_. "Itachi of the Hidden Leaf, we welcome you into the Akatsuki; from this moment on, reject the Hidden Leaf."

After a slight moment of hesitation, Itachi pulls the shinobi forehead protector from his forehead and draws a kunai knife; he heats the blade up in the fire for a bit while he sets the forehead protector down upon a slightly upraised shelf of stone. With a steady hand, he slams the kunai into the metal of the forehead protector and drags it across the emblem, identifying him as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. His expression, once he lays his eyes on what he has just done, is an expression of what looks almost like grief, but he quickly smooths his facial features into calm indifference, closing his eyes. After a moment, he opens his eyes and raises his head, just as Pein walks forward.

"From now . . . you are Itachi of the Akatsuki," he says, offering him a ring with a crimson design atop it and a kanji that translates to _"Scarlet"_.

* * *

 _She strides into the base, carrying the bloody head of her target. "Mission complete, Leader-sama," she states coolly, tossing the head on to the stone floor._

 _He eyes the head emotionlessly. "So it would seem," he mutters under his breath before he begins to look through his scrolls and such to find another mission to give to the kunoichi._

 _However, thousands of sheets of origami paper fly in and form into Konan, causing Pein to forget about his search for a new mission._

 _"What is it, Konan?" he asks the blue-haired kunoichi, and she looks at him._

 _"We have a new member," she states simply before she turns, once more, into origami paper that slowly dissolves into nothingness._

 _He blinks and turns to Kaze. "We shall greet the new member and induct him into our ranks before you receive your next mission. Understood?"_

 _She bows her head, and the two leave the room moments later._

* * *

"Show the world pain . . ." Pein drawls as the members of the Akatsuki, all wearing the cloaks that mark them as such, stand atop a cliff overlooking the land.

All of the members are there, and once he has given the order, they all split up and begin to walk away, leaving only Pein, Konan, Zetsu, Itachi, Jūzō, and Kaze behind.

"Jūzō," Pein states, and said man looks up when he hears his name called.

"Huh?" he mumbles, his sword strapped to his back.

"Form a two-man team with Itachi," Pein orders, just as he had explained to both Jūzō and Kaze earlier, and Jūzō nods slightly, giving Kaze a look.

She returns it, her katana strapped to her own back.

"Okay," Jūzō says after the exchange has been completed, and Itachi turns to look at him, his Sharingan glinting dangerously in the sunlight as he bows his head in recognition.

"Follow me . . . _newbie_ ," Jūzō orders before striding off, only giving Kaze one more brief, fleeting glance.

"Yes," Itachi replies, shooting a confused, bewildered glance at the strawberry blonde kunoichi who remains standing there, just behind the leader of the organization.

The two disappear after a moment in the swirling mist, with only Kaze watching them go.

* * *

 **-3rd POV, w/Kaze-**

"He will be a great asset to us, should his allegiance remain with the Akatsuki," Pein says to the violet-eyed kunoichi standing behind him. "However, should his allegiance sway to the Hidden Leaf, it should prove to be . . . _disastrous_."

Kaze snorts slightly. "We've already had this conversation, Leader-sama; I understand both my mission and its importance, as well as the consequences that will happen should I fail," she says, and he nods. "But I will not fail, Leader-sama."

His lips twitch upwards, into a small smirk. "Report to me if his action become suspicious to you, Kaze," he orders, and she nods to signal her understanding before she dissipates into thousands of butterflies.

* * *

 **1 - Orochimaru isn't actually part of the Akatsuki in this fanfiction for a multitude of reasons. One being that since Kaze is part of the Akatsuki, the ring that would have been his already belongs to someone, and all of the other rings (for the most part) belong to someone, or will in the future. Another reason being that when he fought Sasori and Pein ( _Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution_ ), Kaze went along with them, and she threatened to leave the Akatsuki and give confidential information about the organization to the Five Great Nations should Pein allow Orochimaru to officially join the Akatsuki; now, he couldn't have that, and while he could have killed her, that would have defeated the purpose of having her in the organization, so he allowed her to have her way.**

 **And the real conflict begins!**

 **Itachi-kun is just too suspicious for Pein, Konan, and Kaze to ignore - which I mean, honestly, how did they not suspect something was up with him in the original anime? He walked into base wearing his forehead protector proudly, and then when he's asked to sever his ties with his village, he hesitates and makes a face. How is that not suspicious? This is a criminal organization with S-class shinobi who are all ridiculously powerful; when you're that powerful, you notice things that most others wouldn't, right? Then how did they not notice Itachi being suspicious as all get out?**

 **I mean, I love Itachi-kun, but I think it's more realistic for the Akatsuki to be suspicious of him until he's gained their trust, y'know?**

 **Anyway, Kaze and Itachi haven't really met, but what do you think of the (kind-of, maybe a little bit) budding relationship between them?**

 **Answer: While I think that there are a lot of OP characters in _Naruto_ , I think that the most OP, at least in my opinion, is probably Sasuke. I mean, that plot armor, though! And he's constantly getting power-ups, and he really doesn't need them. 16 and fighting the Raikage, Mizukage, Kazekage, and others, and he still survived! That's _ridiculously_ OP! I mean, really!  
**

 **Question: Saddest _Naruto_ character back-story?**

 **Well, see you guys next time! :)**


	4. Chapter 2: Loss

**Whoo! Chapter 2 here for y'all! And, small warning, there are a lot of POV switches, just 'cause I felt like it. So have fun with that. :)**

 **FailingErin: Thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying it! And I totally agree; Itachi just . . . _Gods!_ I cannot properly describe the feels that come with his back-story; I watch it, and I always get so angry at Danzo, Hiruzen, and the whole fucking village (see? Pissed!). Like, there were many other ways to handle the fact that the Uchihas wanted to overthrow the government, and the fact that their minds immediately went to the massacre of the entire clan as a solution just angers me. And Hiruzen is like, "Let me talk to them; I'm sure when can work something out", but nothing gets worked out because he never just sits down and _talks_! That's the problem with the older shinobi; they want to use violence as the solution for everything, when sitting down and discussing things through would work just as well - if not better. And really, Itachi didn't have much of a choice; neither option was particularly appealing, but one was obviously better than the other - and that was going through with the massacre and having the chance of saving at least one person. The fact that the village ( _and_ the Uchihas, for that matter) backed him into the corner that resulted in him having to kill off his entire family just angers me so much. And I started ranting. My apologies; I get a bit carried away when it comes to this particular topic.  
WarFlower: I completely understood what you were saying, so don't worry! :) And I agree about Kakashi; his back-story is super sad. Losing everyone he loves just sucks - and that probably doesn't even describe how terrible it is. But I wouldn't know. And thank you for your compliment; as far as Kisame goes, I have not seen him in the anime, so I didn't include him yet - but worry not, my friend! Kisame will enter the story soon enough (pretty much after this chapter, actually).**

 **WARNING: SAD! SAD! SAD! YOU MAY NEED A FEW (DOZEN) TISSUES WHILE READING THIS CHAPTER!**

 **Disclaimer:** ** _Naruto_** **and** ** _Naruto Shippuden_** **are Kishimoto-sensei's toys; I'm just playing with them for a bit.**

* * *

 _ **The Child of the Wind**_

 **Chapter 2  
 _Loss_**

 _"_ _It's because I've experienced pain in the past . . . that I can even consider what would be best for the future!"  
-Ōnoki, **Naruto**_

 **Last time on _The Child of the Wind_ :**

 _"He will be a great asset to us, should his allegiance remain with the Akatsuki," Pein says to the violet-eyed kunoichi standing behind him. "However, should his allegiance sway to the Hidden Leaf, it should prove to be . . . **disastrous**."_

 _Kaze snorts slightly. "We've already had this conversation, Leader-sama; I understand both my mission and its importance, as well as the consequences that will happen should I fail," she says, and he nods. "But I will not fail, Leader-sama."_

 _His lips twitch upwards, into a small smirk. "Report to me if his action become suspicious to you, Kaze," he orders, and she nods to signal her understanding before she dissipates into thousands of butterflies._

 **-3rd POV, w/Kaze-**

 _SHE dances in and out of the swipes of her enemies, leaving a trail of bloody corpses in her wake. She ducks beneath the swing of one shinobi's kunai, bending into a low back-bend, and before the shinobi can notice her movements, she pours chakra into her foot and flips backwards, her foot connecting with his jaw with a tremendous amount of force._

 _With a loud crack, his neck is snapped, killing him in an instant._

 _His comrades roar with pained rage, angered at losing a friend, and while they are distracted, she takes out several more with quick, clean slices through their jugulars; they collapse to the shifting ground, the lifeblood pouring out of their veins staining the golden sand beneath their feet dark crimson. One charges her, but he, too, quickly loses his life against her bloody assault._

 _By the end of it, all of her opponents have lost their lives, and the only lasting memory of their fleeting existences is the stains of blood on the sand and on her blade, which she quickly cleans away._

 _Out of a necessary need for survival, she roots through the equipment her enemies have brought with them on the way to fight her, looking for anything that will help her survive the scorching desert long enough to get far enough away from her old home that she will no longer be pursuable. She finds a few more canteens of water, in addition to a multitude of kunai, shuriken, exploding tags, and a few food pills, but that's about it; it appears that the shinobi had not meant to stay out very long - likely thinking they would kill her easily and make their way home quickly, without a need for a lot of water and other supplies._

 _She sighs in exasperation and packs the supplies she's managed to scavenge into her own pack. Once she has finished that particular chore, she pulls the light cloth back up, over her nose, and prepares to leap away._

 _However, she is stopped in her tracks when she catches sight of a shinobi standing before her, with a forehead protector marking him as an ex-shinobi of the Hidden Mist. She recognizes him; it is Raiga Kurosuki._

* * *

Jūzō slams his sword, the Executioner's Blade, into the ground at his feet, capturing the attention of the newbie - who had previously been watching a crow fly away. "Do you know a shinobi named Might Dai?" he asks, watching the newbie carefully out of the corner of his eye.

"I know a Might Gai," Itachi replies, raising his head slightly.

"Huh; well, that's the kid from that time," Jūzō murmurs, remaining with his back to his new (likely temporary, assuming Kaze manages to find something suspicious in the newbie) partner. "I was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Thanks to Might Dai, the seven of us got cut down to three." He bows his head, and from her position atop one of the stalks of wheat, Kaze can see the scowl of pain and loss he hides under an emotionless expression.

"Who could have expected that scuzzy, bearded _freak_ would use taijutsu like that?" he continues, his eyes closing as he remembers.

Kaze takes off from the stalk of wheat, fluttering on the gently gusting wind to alight atop Jūzō's shoulder, offering him comfort without really giving herself away; her presence snaps him out of it, and his eyes fly open, first landing on her shimmering butterfly form then shifting away - both a thanks and a dismissal. She takes the hint and flies away, landing on top of another stalk of wheat hidden from Itachi's line of sight.

Jūzō whirls around slightly to glare at Itachi. "Anyway, I wanna make something clear . . ." he drawls, and she can sense his seething irritation at both having to break in the newbie and having to be separated from his partner - her. "I could care less why you joined the Akatsuki; I don't even want to hear your reason. It doesn't matter why I joined either, and it's okay if you don't want to know."

Itachi does not reply, or give any hint that he is listening to Jūzō, and, at last, Jūzō snaps.

"Listen to me!" he shouts, swinging the Executioner's Blade at the raven-haired Uchiha.

Kaze mentally sighs. _I'm not surprised he snapped - in fact, I'm rather surprised he's managed to last this long. His temper has always been awful, and he's been in a bad mood ever since Leader-sama told the both of us that we won't be working together until either Itachi isn't suspected anymore or a new partnership has to be formed. But . . . really,_ _Jūzō?_

Jūzō stops his blade to rest inches away from Itachi's neck, and Kaze mentally applauds him for regaining control of himself, even while in the throes of his raging temper.

The scarred man takes a deep breath and eyes the emotionless, still Uchiha. "There's something I need to ask you," he states coldly. "And . . . it's about your ninjutsu specialties."

She nods mentally. _Good,_ she thinks. _He's planning ahead._

He draws his sword away from Itachi's neck and slams it back into the ground. "As you see, I use this Executioner's Blade and cut up enemies. So? How about you?" he asks, and even Kaze becomes a bit irritated at the Uchiha's refusal to acknowledge anyone around him.

However, after a moment, Itachi replies, tilting his head back slightly, "Genjutsu, Fire Style, and Shuriken Jutsu."

"You're awfully humble!" Jūzō exclaims, his hand wrapped tightly around the hilt of the blade. "Former ANBU Itachi Uchiha, Itachi of the Sharingan, the Clan-Killer Itachi . . ."

Kaze does not miss the slight twitch of Itachi's finger at the last nickname.

"People throw around many nicknames for you; you're notorious," Jūzō continues, not noticing the twitch, and Itachi whirls around, his Sharingan coloring his irises bloody crimson.

She bristles at the threatening look in the newbie's eyes, but, surprisingly, Jūzō remains calm.

He pulls the Executioner's Blade out of the ground and rests the blunt side of the blade against his shoulder. "Let's decide on our formations," he says; "you'll start with a preemptive attack with your genjutsu, shuriken, or whatever's your specialty. Then I'll jump in, and you back me up."

She watches carefully, in her disguised form, as Itachi radiates a slight hint of disgust - only noticeable to her because of her expertise in using her Emotion Sensing Jutsu **(1)** , that comes with having Fūjin, a powerful wind spirit **(2)** , sealed inside of her. She wonders if the disgust is a by-product of the bloodthirsty aura and intense killer intent Jūzō is giving off.

 _Perhaps, though he killed his clan, he does not enjoy bloodshed,_ she hypothesizes. _A paradox._

 **It certainly seems the logical explanation,** Raijin says.

"That will be Formation B," Jūzō continues.

"What's Formation A?" Itachi asks, and Jūzō smirks.

"We each do things our own way," he replies, and Kaze does a neat mental face-palm.

 _Oh, brother!_ she groans. _And here I thought he actually paid attention to my lectures. If he gets injured out there, I am **so** not healing him!_

Raijin and Fūjin both chuckle at that.

"Understood," Itachi says, turning back to face the way he had faced before.

However, Jūzō recalls something, and he raises his index finger to point at the Uchiha. "One word of warning: don't take any opponent for granted," he says brusquely, an expression of annoyance and blooming anger once again appearing.

"Understood," the Uchiha says lowly, and the two disappear.

* * *

 **-3rd POV, w/** **Jūzō (Later . . .)** **-**

A caravan of 7 stride confidently down the dusty path carved between the two large fields of wheat; 5 appear to be samurai, wielding swords and guarding the two who carry a large, traditional palanquin **(3)**. Three samurai walk in an arrowhead formation in front of the two-man procession, and the remaining two walk walk behind, next to each other.

Suddenly, though, Jūzō and Itachi leap on to the road, blocking their way. Jūzō pulls the Executioner's Blade from his back and slams it into the ground.

"Who are you?" one of the leading samurai demands.

"Get out of our way!" another orders.

"Shinobi villages only say things about peace and order, but they're really worried about their roles shrinking," Jūzō remarks, eyeing the procession thoughtfully. "Behind the scenes, they're all trying to lessen their opponent's power while increasing their own . . ." He shoulders his large sword. ". . . all the while, preventing other nations from finding out their schemes. That's why the Akatsuki gets jobs." He smirks slightly. "The more peaceful the world is . . . the more work we get."

The samurai all grasp the hilts of their swords.

"We accept every request," Jūzō continues, unperturbed; "we don't care about the details."

"You scoundrels!" the spear-head samurai roars, drawing his sword and running chakra through it to enhance the power of its swings; the other samurai follow his example, doing the same.

Jūzō disappears, and Itachi quickly forms hand-signs.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" he exclaims, blowing out a considerably large ball of fire at the enemies.

They defend with their chakra-enhanced swords, only to be cut down the moment that the fire lets up by Jūzō, who used the fireball as a cover. The two who were carrying the palanquin flee with cries of fear, and two samurai step between Jūzō and the prize. However, he is not deterred by their foolish determination, and Itachi leaps up, flinging two shuriken that bury themselves into the enemy, thereby ending their lives.

"Why, you -!" another samurai shouts angrily, leaping into the air with the intent to slash at the two in the hopes of defeating them.

Itachi prepares to use his Sharingan, launching forwards to land beside Jūzō, but before he can, a shimmering, opulent blur of movement flashes in front of the two. In its wake, a long, thin line, like the line cut by a katana, is cut into the man, gushing blood; he falls to the ground, sidestepped by both Jūzō and Itachi neatly, and gurgles once, choking on his own blood before he succumbs to the severity of his injury.

Jūzō grimaces slightly, understanding what has just happened, while Itachi remains clueless. However, before the Uchiha has the chance to ask Jūzō, the sword-wielding missing-nin launches himself forward and cuts the casket in half with one fell swoop of the Executioner's Blade.

"That's why . . ." Jūzō says, standing. "We don't know who's inside this palanquin . . ."

Blood begins to leak out, a dark crimson puddle staining the ground.

"And we don't want to know either," he finishes, nonchalantly ignoring the blood.

* * *

 _"You fool," she says, glaring at him as she finishes wrapping the bandages around his torso. "I told you not to rush in, warned you that they would be expecting you, but did you listen to me? Nooo." She huffs as she ties the linen strips, fastening them into place with a practiced hand. "Kami forbid you actually listen to your partner for once."_

 _Panting for breath,_ _Jūzō grins mischievously up at her. "I-If I didn't know any better . . ." he says breathlessly, his injury making him short of breath, "I'd say you were . . . **concerned** , Kaze."_

 _Her violet eyes flash, becoming cold like chips of amethyst, and she smacks him lightly on the upper arm. "Of **course** I'm concerned, you **baka**!" she snaps. "You're my **partner**!"_

 _At her words, the grin slips from his face, and the two remain in silence as she prepares to treat another one of his injuries._

 ** _Partners,_** _ **huh?** he wonders, watching her carefully._

* * *

Jūzō and Itachi both stand atop a large rock, looking at a nearby stone bridge; Itachi has his arms crossed over his chest, and Jūzō has his hand wrapped around the hilt of the Executioner's Blade, which rests against the rock comfortably. His other arm dangles at his side.

After a moment, a fiery explosion rips the bridge apart, sending pieces of stone flying in every direction.

"There's also no need to think about who the Hell would pay us to do such dirty work," Jūzō muses, examining the wreckage the exploding tags have created of the bridge emotionlessly.

Itachi gives no reaction to his words, nor to the damage he has inadvertently caused; instead, he remains steadfast and stares blankly at some point in the far-off distance.

* * *

 **-3rd POV, w/Kaze-**

Jūzō and Itachi sit around a small campfire, atop two small rocks embedded into the ground. The flickering light of the fire casts eerie shadows across the two's faces in the dark blanket of nighttime, making monsters out of twisted trees around them and enemies out of bushes. But despite the illusions cast by the dancing fire, both remain calm and stare, uninterested, at the fire before them.

Kaze remains hidden amongst the leaves of a nearby tree, nursing a small injury from her rushing in to save the two with their earlier fight with the samurai.

"That's what the Akatsuki is about," Jūzō mutters.

There is a moment of silence between the two, before Itachi chooses to speak.

"Pein, the leader, said the Akatsuki was going to rule the world," he says, his face a blank slate.

 _He certainly has gotten better at hiding his emotions,_ she muses, to which both Fūjin and Raijin agree.

"That won't be for a long time," Jūzō replies, tearing his eyes away from the flickering flames to watch Itachi in the same manner that his true partner does. "We first need to amass money and power."

Again, silence falls, like a blanket, over the two, filled only by the crackling of the fire; Itachi continues to stare into the fire, seemingly unaware of the intense scrutiny he is under.

Suddenly, Jūzō sighs. "Speak of the devil," he mutters, and it is then that Kaze feels the tingling sensation of the summons as well. "He's summoning us."

* * *

 _Their blades connect, creating a shower of sparks that dances in the air around them, and before he can press down on her with his superior strength and larger blade, she throws her weight to the side, pushing his sword away from her._

 _If he was expecting her movement, it would not have worked. However, she continues to surprise him with her strategies and maneuvers, ensuring that such movements, that rely on surprise, will generally always work against him._

 _The tip of her katana slices shallowly into his dominant hand, right across his tendons; both the pain of such an injury and the damage caused in her maneuver cause him to drop his blade, and before he can recover, she steps forward and presses the edge of her katana against his throat._

 _"I win," she says before pulling away. She flicks the blood from the blade with a smooth movement before sheathing it neatly._

 _"Nicely done, Kaze," he remarks, eyeing the damage she has done to his hand as she grabs it and begins to heal it. "Where did you kenjutsu like that?"_

 _"From an old teacher," she says simply, concentrating on her medical ninjutsu carefully._

 _"That kind of movement pattern . . . it's something that is performed mostly by shinobi of the Hidden Mist," he continues, immersed in watching the slice across the back of his hand close up slowly as her pale green chakra stitches it closed. "Who taught you?"_

 _"Raiga Kurosuki, among a few others," she answers at last, and his eyes widen._

 _He is about to ask her more questions about her past, and Raiga, before she drops his hand and flash-steps away. He sighs, exasperated and slightly annoyed, but he honors her unasked request of privacy and relief from the prying questions._

* * *

With a slight buzzing noise, shimmering holograms of both Jūzō and Itachi appear in the cavern.

Pein shoots Jūzō a look, and he shrugs slightly, the movement catching the eye of his temporary partner. However, before any words can be spoken, a hologram of Kaze appears, revealing her with a shallow slice across her cheek.

Pein eyes the injury thoughtfully but makes no comment; meanwhile, Jūzō notices the injury as well, and he scowls at her, to which she replies with a cheeky grin and sticks her tongue out slightly, as if to say _"You can't stop me!"_

He sighs heavily at her antics, and Pein shakes his head slightly at the behavior of the two.

After some discussion between Sasori, his partner, and Jūzō on the topic of switching partners, Zetsu's hologram flickers into existence, along with Kakuzu and his partner. Once they are all there, Pein begins speaking.

"Thanks to your work, Akatsuki's reputation is growing in the underworld," he says, his voice muffled slightly by the jutsu he's using to project an image of himself. "The jobs we're getting are becoming bigger in scale, which means higher compensation as well. But that's only one step, and the Akatsuki is ready to move on to the next step . . . which are the Tailed Beasts."

"There's supposed to be nine of 'em," Jūzō says. "Are those the Tailed Beasts?"

"The Five Great Shinobi Nations harbor most of them," Pein replies, "but the whereabouts are unknown for a few of them. Those who aren't on a job will try to locate them."

"So we just have to locate them?" Kakuzu asks.

"For now," Pein answers, turning to look at the masked nin.

"What will we do with them eventually?" Kaze asks, though she already has a good idea of what Pein's answer will be.

"We'll hunt down and collect every Tailed Beast," Pein says simply.

"And then?" Sasori's partner asks.

"They'll act as our deterrents in our quest for world domination," Pein states, his Rinnengan eyes glowing slightly.

"Really?" Sasori's partner says incredulously. "Seems to me that there are many other ways."

Zetsu turns to glare slightly at the mouthy man. **"There's no mistake in the Leader's reasoning,"** it says, but before it can say more, Pein cuts him off.

"Here are the assignments: Jūzō, you'll handle the request from the Land of Water," he orders.

Jūzō frowns deeply. "Isn't there another mission I can do!?" he exclaims loudly.

"You're familiar with the territory," Pein states coldly, leaving no room for argument from the scarred missing-nin.

The holograms of the Akatsuki members disappear in fizzles of jolting light until only Pein, Konan, and Kaze remain.

"What do you have to report, Kaze?" Pein asks the strawberry blonde kunoichi.

"Only that, by my observations, Itachi Uchiha seems to dislike the idea of bloodshed and is repulsed by killing intent," she answers easily. "He hides his emotions beneath a mask of cold disinterest, but he cannot escape my jutsu." She remains silent for a moment.

"What is it?" Pein asks, encouraging her to continue.

"It is curious," she remarks. "He so clearly dislikes bloodshed and yet . . ."

"He slaughtered his entire clan," Pein finishes for her, nodding in agreement. "It is strange." He sighs deeply, closing his eyes. "Continue watching him closely, Kaze."

She nods and prepares to leave.

"And, Kaze?"

She halts and looks up at him. "Yes, Leader-sama?"

"Try not to be reckless next time," he says, referring to her slowly healing injury as he smirks at her, and he and Konan both disappear.

She smirks slightly and disappears herself.

* * *

 _After having chanced upon Orochimaru creeping on Kaze, Jūzō does not hesitate to pin Orochimaru against the nearest wall by his throat and threaten him with the Executioner's Blade. "Stay away from my partner, **Snake** , or you won't live long enough to regret it," he growls, and Orochimaru bows his head in submission, easily recognizing that he should not cross the sword-wielding missing-nin of the Hidden Mist._

 _Jūzō releases the Snake-Sannin, who quickly scurries away - probably off to take refuge in some lab somewhere and concoct devilish plans that he'll never bother unleashing. Once the Snake-Sannin is out of sight, Jūzō turns away and walks off, leaving Kaze entirely bewildered and confused in his wake._

* * *

"This is ridiculous," Jūzō growls as his mind returns to his body, scowling fiercely. "I never wanted to go back to that depressing place."

* * *

 _"The name's_ _Jūzō Biwa," the shinobi in front of her drawls, holding a large sword in one hand and resting it easily against his shoulder - despite its monstrous size._

 _"Kaze," she states simply, a rather cold and biting tone to her voice, and he smirks._

 _"Nice to meetcha . . . Kaze of the Hidden Sand."_

* * *

"Is that the village where you're from?" Itachi asks Jūzō as they stride through the forest, the taller nin leading the way.

"The job's easy," Jūzō says, instead of answering the Uchiha's inquiry; "we have to assassinate a member from the Feudal Lord's clan in the Land of Water." He glares at the forest before him.

"I'll explain; it's an intra-clan fight over succession, a common occurrence in the Land of Water. The Hidden Mist cannot interfere in the Feudal Clan's affairs." He shoots a glance towards the raven-haired Uchiha. "That's why they've come to the Akatsuki."

* * *

 _"A missing-nin from the Hidden Sand and a missing-nin from the Hidden Mist working together,"_ _Jūzō drawls, staring up at the sky as he reclines on the forest floor. "Who would have thought?"_

 _Kaze does not choose to honor his musings with a response, instead setting up camp for the night._

 _He rolls over on to his side and watches her. "I don't know how to explain it . . ." he says, his voice quieter - as if he is talking to himself, with no intentions of Kaze overhearing him. "It's almost as if . . . we were **meant** to be partners."_

 _Though she says nothing, she does, indeed, feel the same; since meeting the day before, they had just clicked within a matter of seconds, creating an unusually strong team-bond - especially considering their individual shinobi backgrounds. But their history could not change the deep bond that had formed between the two, inexplicable as it is._

 _Only time will tell if the bond means something. **(4)**_

* * *

"This river's the border," Jūzō says as both he and Itachi walk towards the jagged cliffs overlooking the large river he's speaking about. "Have you ever been to the Land of Water?"

"Never on a mission," Itachi replies, his voice a monotone tenor.

"So for an outing, then?" Jūzō jokes, drawing his telescope away from his eye as he smirks widely.

However, Itachi does not reply, and Jūzō pouts, turning to face him.

"You've got no sense of humor!" he whines childishly, and Kaze sighs mentally, overlooking the two from her hiding place among the leaves of one of the many trees overlooking the scenic river that divides the two lands.

Jūzō gets serious within a few seconds, though. "But you _do_ know, don't you?" he asks. "What happens to a shinobi from another village if he's discovered in the Land of Water?"

"The Hidden Mist doesn't have a policy for prisoner exchange," Itachi says, looking down at the ground. "If captured, the shinobi will be forced to divulge his jutsu, and he'll be disposed of."

"You have it good, Itachi," Jūzō remarks, turning around fully and pushing the Executioner's Blade into the ground. "The Leaf is naive; that's why you and Orochimaru can go around without a care as rogue ninja.

"But there is a special unit in the Hidden Mist, as well as the Hidden Sand **(5)** , that track down rogue ninja."

Itachi blinks in surprise that Jūzō bothers to mention the Hidden Sand, which he knows both Sasori and Kaze are from; perhaps he and Kaze are closer than they seem. But if that is the case, when where is the strawberry blonde kunoichi? And how did she end up with an injury when she wasn't sent on a mission like the others? It just doesn't add up.

"If I ever get caught in this village . . ." Jūzō trails off. "Oh, I forgot all about Formation C: if I'm caught by the Mist, kill me immediately." He points at the Uchiha, who remains emotionless as ever.

"If I have a chance," Itachi replies simply, and Jūzō raises the Executioner's Blade so that the very end of the sword is just a few inches away from Itachi's neck.

Kaze sighs mentally. _And here we go again,_ she thinks.

"So what do you want me to do for Formation D?" Jūzō inquires, nonchalant despite the fact he's holding a dangerous bladed weapon in the face of his (temporary) teammate.

There is a moment of silence.

"Nothing in particular," Itachi replies at last, and Jūzō lowers his sword.

"Fine," he says. "Let's get going!"

* * *

 _"There's a mission to go to the Hidden Sand," Pein announces to the gathered members of the Akatsuki, all standing in the cavern together. "I want you, Kakuzu, to take it."_

 _Said masked missing-nin frowns at that. "Why don't you send Sasori or Kaze?" he asks._

 _"I would not mind sending Sasori," Pein replies cryptically, "but this mission is better suited for you, Kakuzu."_

 _"And Kaze?"_

 _"She is still being hunted by the Tracker Ninja from Suna," he states. "Her abilities will further our cause greatly, so it is not in our best interest to risk losing her."_

 _"However," Kaze jumps in, turning her head to look at Kakuzu, "I will send Akurojin-no-hi **(6)** with you on your mission; he will lead you through the desert on the shortest possible path. He will also warn you of danger and relay messages; if you need anything, tell him and he will alert me."_

 _Kakuzu nods in understanding._

 _"Dismissed," Pein calls, and they all flash-step away._

* * *

The two travel during the nighttime, quickly reaching the Feudal Clan estate. The two stand a few feet away from its tall stone walls, examining the structure carefully and developing a plan. Meanwhile, Kaze hides in one of the nearby trees, having changed out the luminous butterfly form to a small butterfly with dark navy blue wings that shimmer slightly in the moonlight - but not nearly as visible as her earlier form; her injury has healed by this point, leaving behind no hint that someone had ever made it through her defenses - even only to nick her cheek.

"Are you good at infiltrating?" Jūzō asks Itachi, his brows knitted as he stares at the building before them.

"I'm average," Itachi replies, his face a blank slate.

"Okay," Jūzō says, turning to look at him, "show me."

A few minutes later, Jūzō strides calmly towards the gates, the Executioner's Blade tied firmly to his back. Inside the compound, two ANBU with porcelain masks that proudly display the symbol of the Hidden Mist on their foreheads race towards the gate, pressing themselves against the walls right before the iron-wrought gate begins in hopes of getting in a sneak attack before Jūzō has the opportunity to exchange blows. However, Itachi has leapt over the wall, and he lands, nearly silent, a few feet behind one of the ANBU.

The ANBU he's behind manages to hear his landing and whirls around to face him, but Itachi has activated his Sharingan, using the power of the crimson irises marked with three tomoes to put the two ANBU underneath a genjutsu that puts them to sleep. They both slump into unconsciousness, falling to their knees and then into a heap of themselves on the ground.

Within a few minutes, the two Akatsuki members have managed to infiltrate the innermost part of the compound, killing more than a few ANBU who got in their way as they continued on their quest to find their target for assassination. At last, they are faced with the target.

"P-Please!" he stammers. "Spare me!"

However, Jūzō is persuaded against completing the mission. "I don't bear a grudge against you," he says, holding Executioner's Blade in a straight line away from himself; "this is just my job."

The target proceeds to whimper pathetically as Jūzō raises the sword above his head in preparation to slaughter the man. "W-Wait!" he cries, reaching above his head as if his arm will provide a life-saving barrier between him and the large sword that is about to take his life.

But there is no stopping Jūzō, and the sword hurtles down.

* * *

 _She is deep in the heat of battle when a shinobi leaps down from the highest branches of a tree behind her, hoping to catch her off-guard and take her out of the fight - whether or permanently or temporarily, it doesn't matter; any amount of time that she is out of the fight will benefit them. She can sense his presence there, but she is too engrossed in beating back the enemy, and cutting them down whenever the opportunity presents itself to her, to fight him._

 _He leaps down from the tree once he has prepared an attack, and, landing in a cat-like crouch, he rushes at her at the same time his teammates charge at her for another attack._

 _She is distracted by the large attack, leaving an opening for him, and he aims to take advantage of it._

 _However, her teammate suddenly leaps into the fray, cutting him down without a second of hesitation; he sneers at the broken, bleeding body of the man who attempted to attack his teammate._

 _"That's what you get for trying to kill my partner."_

* * *

Both Jūzō and Itachi leap through the trees, bounding from branch to branch with a practiced ease; Kaze flies along behind them, disguised amongst the leaves. They bound away from the scene of their crime, and with a quiet swishing noise, a pursuer leaps after them, only a blur at the speed they move with.

"Hey . . ." Itachi calls to Jūzō as he jumps.

"Yeah," Jūzō replies, signaling he has noticed as well. He makes a hand-sign. "Hidden Mist Jutsu!"

His chakra exits his body, shining blue, and it forms into a dispersed cloud, which then morphs into thick fog that obscures the trees.

However, the fog doesn't stop their pursuer. "Wind Style: Supreme Typhoon!" the shinobi shouts, creating a brisk wind that blows the fog away with ease.

"This is -!?" Jūzō exclaims, glancing behind him with wide eyes.

 _Oh, shit!_ Kaze thinks, her mental eyes wide as well.

Jūzō bounces off of the branch he's on, flying backwards to land on the forest floor; Itachi does the same, following his example easily. Within a second, their pursuer lands on the branch the Akatsuki members were on only milliseconds earlier, the light of the moon illuminating the face to reveal Yagura, the Fourth and current Mizukage; standing on the branches behind him are masked Tracker Ninja.

 _Shit, shit, shit!_ Kaze yelps mentally, barely suppressing the urge to reveal herself and transport both Jūzō and Itachi out of there - out of the danger. But she remembers Pein's orders to not reveal herself to Itachi, no matter what, and she flutters into a nearby tree and hides herself amongst the leaves, watching over the pair.

Jūzō gasps slightly when he sees Yagura. "Lord Fourth!" he exclaims, his (tiny) brows knitted.

Yagura looks down at him, scowling slightly.

"Is that the Mizukage?" Itachi asks, eyeing Yagura warily.

"Do you remember my warning?" Jūzō asks, instead of answering Itachi's question, and he turns to look at the Uchiha.

Itachi doesn't reply; instead, he watches Yagura. "Any way you look at him," he remarks emotionlessly, "he's a kid."

"He's the jinchūriki of the Three Tails," Jūzō says, still looking at the teenage Uchiha.

In his moment of distraction, more ANBU drop down from the trees to surround them.

Kaze starts panicking at that moment. _No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no -_

Raijin cuts her off. _**Calm down**_ **,** he says, stressing the words. **I understand your anxiety about this situation, but there is nothing that you can do for them - other than believe in the both of them. Believe that they _can_ do it, because that is the only thing that you can do.**

"And _they_ are the Mist's Shinobi Tracking Unit," Jūzō finishes, eyeing the ANBU carefully without moving.

"I never expected you to reappear in the Village, Jūzō," Yagura says, gesturing to the scarred ex-nin of the Mist with his large staff, topped with a flower.

"I didn't wanna come back either," Jūzō calls to the ruthless Mizukage. "I had no choice."

"I have a ton of things to say to you," Yagura replies, turning his head away yet keeping his eyes on the missing-nin. "At the very least, I'm taking the Executioner's Blade back." His head turns back, and he fixes the two with a fierce glare. "Even if your partner is Itachi of the Sharingan."

Suddenly he smirks slightly. "What ever happened to Kaze, your old partner? Kaze of the Rikugōgan, wasn't it?"

 _Oh . . . **shit** ,_ Kaze thinks, watching an expression of confusion on Itachi's face turn into one of comprehension and understanding.

"Don't tell me she _died_ ," Yagura continues.

Jūzō grits his teeth but does not reply; instead, he grabs the hilt of the Executioner's Blade and looks to Itachi. "So I guess a surprise attack with your genjutsu is meaningless," he says, struggling (and failing) to keep the tension and anger out of his voice.

Itachi glances at Jūzō. "What do you want to do?" he asks, and Jūzō pulls the Executioner's Blade from his back.

"This one's a Formation C," he says, and Kaze's breath catches unsteadily.

 _No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, **no**!_ she chants mentally, and this time, Raijin doesn't interrupt her; he is just as anxious as her now.

Jūzō closes his eyes, then, as if preparing for his own death.

Itachi turns to look at him. "Formation C?" he inquires. "Understood."

Within a split second, he has landed a solid slice with a kunai on Jūzō's side, cutting him pretty deeply. The ANBU surrounding them all gasp in surprise at Itachi's actions against his own partner, but neither Jūzō, nor Kaze, are surprised. Itachi activates his Sharingan as he watches Yagura from the corner of his eyes, and she mentally bites her lip.

 _Screw Pein,_ she decides. _If_ _Jūzō gets wounded, I'm revealing myself - no matter the consequences._

Yagura leaps down from the tree branch he was standing on, his brows knitted. "Don't look!" he calls to the Tracker Ninja as they leap downwards as well, referring to Itachi's Sharingan, and in that moment, Jūzō, uninjured, lunges at him, with the Executioner's Blade raised over his head in preparation for a forceful swing downwards.

However, before Jūzō can cut him in half, Yagura raises his staff above his head and blocks the Executioner's Blade with it. The resulting clang resounds loudly.

"It's a water clone!" one of the ANBU shouts as the injured Jūzō dissolves into water, and Kaze barely restrains her desire to roll her eyes and remark about him stating the obvious. The moment that the water clone of Jūzō has entirely dissolved, the ANBU all around that particular Captain Obvious have shuriken buried into their guts.

"Itachi!" Jūzō calls to his partner, and said Uchiha turns to face the scarred missing-nin locked in battle with the Mizukage.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu," he calls, blowing a rather impressively large fireball at the two locked in mortal combat.

The flames overtake the Mizukage, likely burning him - if only a little.

"Lord Fourth!" one of the ANBU calls out in concern, and Jūzō appears behind them, easily cutting them down with the Executioner's Blade.

That is the last of the ANBU, and Jūzō and Itachi watch the fire burn where the Mizukage was last seen, unaffected by the bloodshed. However, after a moment, Itachi takes a step back as the flames disappear, revealing Yagura in his Version 2 form of the Three-Tails. Smoke wafts off the creature's blood-red form, a most impressive sight for those who have never seen a jinchūriki transform.

"You two . . . I'll show no mercy," the creature growls lowly, in the voice of Yagura, and Kaze's mental chanting begins anew.

"Tailed Beast State!?" Itachi asks, a small amount of shock shining through cracks in his emotionless mask.

"The Fourth is a jinchūriki who can control his Tailed Beast!" Jūzō exclaims, scowling at the creature Yagura has become. "This is _not_ the Hidden Leaf!"

The creature lunges at Jūzō, and he meets it head-on, deflecting its swings with the Executioner's Blade; however, the recoil of the blow sends Jūzō hurtling backwards, slamming his back against a tree. Itachi flings some shuriken at the creature, but it easily deflects them, now focusing on the teenage Uchiha; it charges him, growling audibly, and Itachi's body is overtaken by what appears to be shells, holding him in place.

The creature pulls itself up on to hind legs, racing at him while he's immobilized.

Itachi grunts, gritting his teeth as the creature gets closer and closer to him, growling all the while. When the creature is about a foot away from the Uchiha, Jūzō appears, slamming his sword into the creature and batting it backwards with the force of his swing.

"Jūzō!" Itachi exclaims, still immobile.

"It's the Fourth's Coral Palm Jutsu," Jūzō explains, turning to look at his partner, and he swings at the coral holding Itachi in place, freeing the Uchiha's arms.

Once that is complete, he turns to look at the creature, only to see it preparing a Tailed Beast Ball.

 _No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, **noooooooooo**!_ Kaze screams as the creature fires the Tailed Beast Ball, small but deadly, flying down to Itachi and Jūzō's level.

Jūzō raises the Executioner's Blade to bat the Tailed Beast Ball away from the two of them, and she loses it.

"NO!" She transforms in mid-air, racing to stop it.

She doesn't make it in time, and the Tailed Beast Ball collides with the Executioner's Blade, causing a huge explosion. Itachi is knocked backwards, out of the explosion zone, and his back slams into a tree as he stares wordlessly at Kaze. He stands up, clutching his left arm, and half of the Executioner's Blade slams into the ground a few feet away from him.

"Jūzō!?" Itachi calls.

" ** _NO_**!" Kaze screams when she sees Jūzō, with the missing half of the Executioner's Blade buried into his body, just underneath his rib cage on the left side - likely having pierced his heart.

He smiles at her, blood dribbling down from his lips.

* * *

 **1 - Emotion Sensing Jutsu: a jutsu that allows the user to (as the name suggests) sense the emotions of anyone within 20 ft; only able to be used by shinobi with an incredibly powerful affinity for wind - generally only people with** **Fūjin sealed into them are able to use it. The idea behind the jutsu is that someone with an ability to understand the wind itself is able to sense emotions, as emotions radiate from someone's ability (why empaths can sense emotions) are carried on the wind to the person.  
2 - Fūjin is based off of the god of wind in Japanese mythology by the same name; whenever someone has him sealed into them, they have an incredible power of the wind and the air (comparable to Gaara, with his sand, but the air doesn't go out of its way to protect them)  
3 - The anime says it's a palanquin, but it doesn't fit the definition that I looked up but whatever.  
4 - They're both shinobi, so bonds are considered to be something that doesn't really mean anything because of how often shinobi have to throw them away.  
5 - It isn't specifically stated anywhere that any village other than the Hidden Mist has Tracker Ninja, but I think that it's safe to assume that they probably do, you know? The other villages aren't anything like Konoha.  
6 - Based off of a creature, a ghostly flame, in Japanese mythology.  
**

 **And if you are now sobbing uncontrollably, don't say I didn't warn you. The entire time I was watching the (short) fight, I was like nonononononono, so I kind of incorporated that into Kaze's reaction. But hers is a lot more understandable than mine, considering the two were friends and partners and pretty close.**

 **I've got to ask: am I the only one who thinks Tobito somehow planned Jūzō's (very, very sad) demise, considering he had *SPOILERS* Yagura under his control *END SPOILERS*? Like, seriously! That entire mission and them being found by Yagura just smelt kinda fishy to me, y'know? Am I the only one? Let me know please, so I can know if I'm going even more crazy.**

 **Answer: There are a lot of sad back-stories in _Naruto_ , but the one that immediately jumps to mind in my case is Naruto's, actually. He did get a happy ending, unlike some of the other characters (coughcough, Itachi, coughcough), but his back-story was just so sad. He was left without any living family, and so he was an orphan his entire life with no one other than the Third Hokage to take care of him - and as if that isn't sad enough, he was hated by the entire village for something his father did. He was treated as a monster his entire life, and the Third Hokage specifically decreed that no one could tell him (the decree was to not talk about the Kyuubi being sealed inside Naruto, but that's just a fancy, diplomatic way of saying "NOBODY TELL NARUTO HE HAS THE NINE TAILED FOX SEALED INSIDE OF HIM!) so he didn't even know why. I could go further into detail on the subject, but I think what I've said (written) gets my point across.**

 **Question: Biggest plot-hole that makes no sense in _Naruto_?**

 **Well, I've got to go! See you guys next time! :)**


	5. Chapter 3: Finality

**Welcome to the third chapter! Hope you guys are ready some more overload of the feels!**

 **FailingErin: Well, I'm glad that my writing didn't cause any permanent damage to your well-being, my friend (are you ready for some more heartbreak?). And thank you for the compliment; it's greatly appreciated (it's always nice to know that what you do is appreciated and enjoyed, y'know?). And I totally agree with you; Tobito was truly a brilliant mastermind, _and_ a great strategist. And you bring up another good point (seriously, are you superhuman or something? You just bring up good point after good point) about Tobito; I highly doubt that Zetsu could keep his eye from going blind. But I always thought that maybe it was because he only had one Mangekyou Sharingan, while Kakashi had the other one, y'know? Maybe the blindness only happens when you have both of your Mangekyou Sharingan eyes; I mean, it's not like those transplants happened very often (and Danzo does _not_ count). But I don't know; maybe Kishimoto-sensei was just like "I don't know why he's like that. I never really thought of it; he's just a supremely powerful baddie." But no matter the reason, it doesn't change the fact it's there. I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)**

 **Disclaimer: For some reason, Kishimoto-sensei refuses to give me the rights to _Naruto_ , so, unfortunately, I cannot say that I own it and be honest. Oh, well, I'll try again later; he'll have to give in at some point, if nothing more than to get me to leave him alone.**

* * *

 _ **The Child of the Wind**_ **  
**

 **Chapter 3  
 _Finality_**

 _"If you don't share someone's pain, you can never understand them."  
-Nagato, **Naruto**_

 **Last time on _The Child of the Wind_ :**

 _Once that is complete, he turns to look at the creature, only to see it preparing a Tailed Beast Ball._

 _ **No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, noooooooooo!** Kaze screams as the creature fires the Tailed Beast Ball, small but deadly, flying down to Itachi and Jūzō's level._

 _Jūzō raises the Executioner's Blade to bat the Tailed Beast Ball away from the two of them, and she loses it._

 _"NO!" She transforms in mid-air, racing to stop it._

 _She doesn't make it in time, and the Tailed Beast Ball collides with the Executioner's Blade, causing a huge explosion. Itachi is knocked backwards, out of the explosion zone, and his back slams into a tree as he stares wordlessly at Kaze. He stands up, clutching his left arm, and half of the Executioner's Blade slams into the ground a few feet away from him._

 _"Jūzō!?" Itachi calls._

 _" **NO**!" Kaze screams when she sees Jūzō, with the missing half of the Executioner's Blade buried into his body, just underneath his rib cage on the left side - likely having pierced his heart._

 _He smiles at her, blood dribbling down from his lips._

 **-3rd POV, w/Kaze-**

 _"WE'LL always be together, right, Papa?" a young Kaze asks._

 ** _"We'll always be together . . . Correct . . ._** ** _Shishō?" an 11-year old Kaze asks._**

 ** _"We'll always be together . . . ne,_** ** _Jūzō?" a 13-year old Kaze asks, decked out in an Akatsuki robe and sprawled out on the ground beside the scarred missing-nin she's addressing._**

 ** _"Yeah," he replies, smiling softly at her. "We're partners; I'll never leave your side."_**

* * *

"Jūzō!" Kaze shouts, her voice cracking, and she races over to where he lays, propped up against a tree with blood pouring down his front torso as he coughs weakly.

"Run . . . Kaze, Itachi . . ." he wheezes, but she shakes her head, kneeling next to him.

"I'm never leaving you, remember? I promised," she says, hiccuping on a sob as she flies through hand-signs for medical ninjutsu with a startling speed and accuracy that only happens when she's in a dire situation. Her hands glow green. "You promised me you wouldn't leave me, either, so don't you dare give up; you're my . . . _p-partner_ , Jūzō. You _can't_ leave."

Itachi steps closer to the two as the creature Yagura has become prepares another Tailed Beast Ball, and when he spots the danger they are both in, he steps in front of them entirely. As Kaze behind him tries to heal Jūzō's life-threatening wound, the creature gets closer and closer to being able to fire the Tailed Beast Ball; however, before it can, his left eye starts to bleed, and black flames suddenly cover the entirety of the creature's body, causing it to scream in pain.

The Tailed Beast Ball disappears.

Kaze glances behind her, and her jaw drops as her eyes widen. " _Amaterasu_ ," she murmurs, staring for a moment before she shakes herself off and returns her attention to her patient - her friend.

The black flames, Amaterasu Kaze called it, pretty much overtakes the creature, causing it a large amount of damage - judging by the shrieks of pain it emits.

"W-what?" the creature chokes out.

"What is this?" Itachi murmurs as the creature continues to scream in pain.

"It's called Amaterasu," Kaze replies quietly, answering his question. "It's a special fire technique that can only be used by those with a Mangekyou Sharingan; it is the highest level of Fire Style, and it burns everything in its path, including other flames - that is why it is known as _'the fires of Hell'_."

Jūzō chuckles, the sound breathy and weak. "She sure knows her stuff . . . huh, Itachi?" he wheezes.

"The power of the Mangekyou Sharingan?" he repeats, and Kaze nods as the creature collapses to the ground, though she doesn't turn away from Jūzō.

"Yes," she answers promptly, feeling the strain on her first-most chakra network begin to take a toll on her. "But only . . . gah! Only specific designs of Mangekyou Sharingan can use Amaterasu; every Mangekyou Sharingan is different." She pants for breath, and Jūzō weakly bats her hands away from himself, canceling her medical ninjutsu.

"Stop," he says, surprisingly firm for being so wounded. "You're . . . just exhausting . . . yourself, Kaze. I'm going to . . . die, but . . . that's okay . . . Because you're . . . you're here with me."

Kaze starts to sob again, just as Itachi cries out in pain and clutches at his left eye. "J-Jūzō," she stutters, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Heal . . . Itachi . . ." Jūzō orders, calm despite the fact that he knows that he's going to die. "He . . . needs your . . . help."

She nods, though she continues to cry silently.

Suddenly, though, the Three-Tails' chakra coat on Yagura dissipates, revealing him badly burnt in multiple areas. "Why, you-!" he cries, and Kaze whirls around, glaring at him fiercely.

Itachi watches, stunned into silence, as her bright violet irises morph into the irises that are known as the eyes of a Kaze, the possessor of the powerful kekkei genkai called the Rikugōgan; the Rikugōgan changes the color of her irises to two very distinct colors: teal and light purple, and the design of a Yin and Yang symbol (the Yin the teal, the Yang the purple) appears on her irises.

As Yagura collapses, both from his injuries and whatever Kaze has done to him with her kekkei genkai, he realizes it. How he didn't notice it sooner, he doesn't know; perhaps because he spent so little time with her . . . but he'd heard her name, and that was enough to draw the pieces together. She's from the Kaze clan, the powerful clan that had been based mostly in Suna - though they had little pockets of groups across all the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Though, they were said to be dead - massacred by a powerful outside force; how she had survived that, he could not guess.

Kaze deactivates the Rikugōgan and looks to Itachi, who stares at her in wonder; she smiles wryly. "Come here, Uchiha-san," she orders calmly, though he can see her eyes begin to tear up once more. "I can heal your eyes, help stave off the damage the Mangekyou Sharingan does to your eyesight."

Jūzō coughs wetly from behind her, still clinging on to life. "Trust . . . her, Itachi . . ." he says, gasping weakly. "She's . . . done . . . before . . ."

Her eyes become particularly shiny when she realizes he's so close to death that he can't even speak in full sentences anymore, but she remains steadfast and practically drags Itachi over to her. She forces him to sit down and activates her Rikugōgan once more; it pulses brightly, the colors shining eerily, before it shifts into what he recognizes as the Byakugan. She activates it without any hand-signs and stares deeply into his eyes.

* * *

 **-3rd POV, w/Itachi-**

It's a bit unnerving for him, for her to look _into_ him like that; there is an intelligence to her eyes, even if they do not appear as they normally do, that suggests she reads people often, and he wonders idly if she has read him, too. She must be good at reading people, much like him, and as she looks into his eyes and reads him, he takes the opportunity to try to read her.

From what he has heard from conversations between the other members, Kaze is something of an irreplaceable piece in the Akatsuki, much like the Queen in chess or the King in shogi; it is no wonder why, what with her being one of the last members of the Kaze clan (much like himself and Sasuke, in a way) and someone possessing the Rikugōgan, a kekkei genkai that is both powerful (said to be even more powerful than the Rinnengan, if the user is able to master it), difficult to master, and incredibly rare.

But as he reads her, bypassing her normal impossibly strong barriers with a surprising ease and swiftness (quick, even for him), he wonders if another reason why she is so important to the Akatsuki is because of her ability to read people; he can tell, her ability is comparable to a gale wind bending treetops to touch the ground - powerful, inescapable, and unrivaled.

He feels that, before her, his entire soul is laid bare - all of the pieces he has used to hide from the world, all of the walls and traps and mazes he has created to ensnare people trying to understand him, they are nothing before her, and she can read him like no one else ever has before. He feels as though he is just a young child once more, standing before the uncontrollable force that was his father, and his father was reading him - except she . . . she _understands_.

She can see what makes him tick, all of the sins he has committed, the darkness of his soul, and she does not condemn him for it - merely reads, understands, and moves on. It is as if she is allowing him to have his secrets, not asking to gain more understanding but just reading without passing judgement. If he is a sinner, damned to Hell for all of eternity, then she is the angel that gives him a second chance at life before he loses it all.

He doesn't even realize that she has finished healing him until she pulls away and says softly, gently despite having learned all there is to know about him, "You should be good now, Uchiha-san."

He snaps out of it, and, with a mind of their own, his lips twitch upwards at the corners to form a soft smile. "Please, call me Itachi," he finds himself saying, with a friendly tone to his voice that he thought he had lost after he . . .

She nods, submitting to his wishes without losing any of the strength that he can sense in her - always present in everything she does, from the way she walks to the way she performs jutsu. "Of course."

Jūzō coughs again, the sound wet as if he is coughing up blood, and the two of them turn to face him; the amiable aura around Kaze fades away into a business-like one, and she walks over, kneeling by the heavily wounded man. She grabs his hand and holds it between the both of hers tightly; Itachi can see it, even from a distance, in the way she hunches over him and her knuckles begin to turn white.

Jūzō smiles at her, as reassuring as he can be in such a dire situation, and he looks to Itachi, giving him a look that suggests that he knows exactly what transpired between the both of them just moments earlier. "Is the Mizukage . . . dead?" he asks, speaking to the both of them.

"No," Kaze replies easily, not even turning to check. "His chakra is weak, but it is still there; he's still alive, though if he doesn't get treatment for his burns soon, he will."

The nonchalant, uncaring lilt to her voice, likely layered on top of a vindictive, slightly victorious tone, stuns Itachi; she is, of course, a missing-nin, so she has to be heartless in order to survive. But there is just something so surprising about hearing someone who looks so gentle, who had treated him so gently just moments earlier, talk so emotionlessly about the death of someone right in front of her.

And yet he can understand why she is reacting this way; from all that he had seen of her, from their limited encounters (something he is starting to suspect was probably planned), she did not form bonds with others easily - rather, it would probably be better to say that she does not form bonds with others _period_. She is not hostile to anyone, not even the creepy Snake-Sannin who had often leered at her in a way that he knew, from astute observation since the very beginning, made her exceedingly uncomfortable. Even to him, she is not hostile, nor is she violent or cruel; she just glares at him, and Jūzō always threatens the Snake-Sannin away from her.

Jūzō . . . he is the bizarre exception to her rule of no bonds or friendships, and Itachi, he has never seen a truer friendship than the one between those two. And yet the two are so vastly different; Jūzō is gruff and violent and cruel, and he has obviously had a tortured past - judging by his reaction to seeing the Mizukage. On the other hand, Kaze is unsociable, but not hostile; eager to fight, but not exceedingly violent; skilled in fighting, but found no enjoyment in it.

Itachi muses further on Kaze, standing there. The violet-eyed kunoichi is an enigma in of herself, a confusing paradox of ideals that he had never seen before. Everyone that he had met before he met _her_ was simple, easily understood; they all followed their most basic instincts, lashed out against the world when things went wrong, and did things only for themselves. But Kaze does not fit in with the others that he has met; she does things for others that put herself at risk one moment, and the next she is selfish and concerned only for herself.

It is as if she is unsure of who she wants to be, who she is, and who the rest of the world wants her to be - and whether she should just give in.

"You . . . have to go," Jūzō says, snapping Itachi out of his thoughts, and he looks towards the scarred missing-nin.

Kaze shakes her head. "No," she states firmly, though her eyes begin to dew anew. "I am _not_ leaving you, Jūzō; we made a promise to each other, remember? We would never leave each other's side, not even at the very end. You are my partner, my _friend_ , and I refuse to leave your side."

Jūzō reaches up weakly and strokes her cheek with his hand, smearing his blood on her face - but she does not care and leans into his familiar caress.

Itachi begins to feel awkward and out of place, witnessing such a tender moment between two missing-nin who share a bond whose strength he has never seen an equal of. He is about to turn away, provide a look-out for the two while they say their good-byes, but Jūzō, noticing his uncomfortableness, calls him over.

He walks over and kneels down, to the side of the mourning kunoichi, and once he is in place, Jūzō takes advantage of both his proximity and Kaze's being distracted by the Uchiha's approach; he presses a pressure point on the kunoichi's neck, knocking her out easily enough.

Kaze sags, falling back into Itachi's chest, and the Uchiha brings his arms up to support her gently, surprised at Jūzō's actions.

He smiles slightly. "She . . . wouldn't leave . . . otherwise," he says as way of explanation, and Itachi nods wordlessly, now understanding his actions; the man was concerned, and he does not want her to lose her life to the forces of the village. "Itachi . . ."

The Uchiha looks up at the sound of his name, some part of his mind still devoted to the thought that Kaze smells sweet - like sugar and honeysuckle, orange blossom and vanilla. "Yes?" he asks, his voice even and without tremors.

"Take . . . take her back," Jūzō says, wheezing. "Take care . . . of her . . . watch over . . . her . . ."

"I will," Itachi promises, pulling Kaze further into his arms and standing. "I swear."

Jūzō reaches out weakly, his hand trembling, and he grabs Kaze's dangling hand, taking comfort in the physical contact between them. His breaths turn rattling, like the sound much like a rattlesnake's warning, and he yanks a hidden, disguised necklace from his neck. "T-take it . . ." he chokes out. "She'll . . . tell . . . you the . . . the truth."

Itachi's brows knit, but he does as the missing-nin requests, taking the silvery metal necklace; the part that wraps around his neck is formed of interlocking chains, and between them are three large loops of the same metal. The necklace, the loops, makes him think of his parents and his younger brother . . . Sasuke; he feels a pang of pain jab him in the heart at the thought, and his grip on the necklace tightens, the cool metal biting into the skin of his palm.

"Don't forget . . . ring," Jūzō wheezes, gesturing to the ring that rests on the ring finger of his left hand - opposite the position of Itachi's own ring.

Itachi bows his head and slides the ring off of Jūzō's finger, tucking it into a hidden pocket on the inside of his cloak; after a moment of thought, he grabs the remaining half of the Executioner's Blade that had been stuck in the ground and hands it to the missing-nin.

"Thank . . . you . . ." Jūzō grins, his lips dripping with blood he's coughed up. "Take care . . . of her . . . she's my . . . _imoto_ . . ."

"I swear I will," Itachi vows seriously, promising to both himself and the dying, lonely swordsman that he will never leave the secretly vulnerable, strawberry blonde-haired kunoichi.

"Tell her . . . I . . . _love her_ . . . please," Jūzō continues, his face suddenly taking on an incredibly hurt, terrified . . . _vulnerable_ expression. "I don't want . . . to leave . . . her . . . behind . . ."

"You're not," Itachi finds himself assuring the man. "She knows that you will never leave her, even if you die a thousand times over."

Jūzō smiles slightly, despite the pain and heartache in such a parting. "Th-thanks . . . Itachi . . . you were a g-good . . . _temporary_ partner . . ." He coughs, then - a gurgling, rattling, rasping sound that leaves Itachi slightly sick to his stomach at the memories that sound drudges up. "Now . . . _g-go_!"

Itachi wastes no time in following the missing-nin's orders, leaping up into the trees and bounding from branch to branch at breakneck speed, leaving the dying missing-nin behind.

* * *

 **-3rd POV, w/** **Jūzō-**

Jūzō watches from his position slumped against a tree as his temporary partner, Itachi Uchiha, leaps away with his true partner, Kaze, in his arms. Despite the pain of parting with her, he is inherently glad that she is being taken out of the danger zone and will be cared for by someone he believes that he can trust, despite Pein's extreme distrust of the man.

 _Dying is odd_ _,_ he muses to himself as he waits for Death to grasp hold of him and drag him under. _It's painful, yes, but it's also oddly peaceful - that realization that your life is now over is both relaxing and terrifying at the same time._

He coughs again, feeling the blood pooling in the bottom of his lungs slosh at the movement.

 _Do I have any regrets? Sure, of course I do,_ he thinks, staring up at the inky blackness of the night-sky. _But it doesn't matter now . . . though I regret most of all leaving Kaze behind._

A star immediately above him pulses brightly once before it flies across the night-sky, leaving a trail of shining white behind. His eyes start to slide shut, his breathing slowing, and his thinking drags to a halt.

 _I guess . . . this is good-bye, Kaze . . . **again**._

* * *

 **And that's the end of that!**

 **Well, damn! That was painful for me to write. I'm so mean to my characters, lol. Just heartbreak and heartache all around, give some to everybody!**

 **Oh, I forgot to mention, but if you guys have any questions about anything, let me know and I will do my best to explain the answer to you without spoilers - so feel free to ask if you don't understand something or you want to know more about something.**

 **Answer: One of the plot holes that makes no sense to me is the whole law about not mentioning Kurama having been sealed inside of Naruto. I may have already said it, but the whole thing makes no sense - because clearly at the start of the series, everyone knows about the Kyuubi inside of Naruto, so why have that law? I mean, yeah, it's supposed to protect him from missing-nin (not really) and other villages. But it seems like a moot point, because the bad guys clearly know, so . . . why?**

 **Question: Favorite Uchiha?**

 **Ja ne!**


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